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These Boys Are Done Crying

When Samuel and Nigel’s mum left them at their aunty’s home, they felt confused and thought she was abandoning them.

“Mum has to live somewhere else for a while,” she said, as she kissed them goodbye.

What Samuel and Nigel didn’t know was that their mother was taking the positive step of beginning a year-long rehabilitation programme to help her deal with her addiction issues.

Even though their aunty loved the boys and wanted them to feel secure, they felt anxious and afraid in their new surroundings. Nigel cried constantly at his new school and felt frustrated when he couldn’t keep up in class.

Samuel expressed his fear and confusion by picking fights and hitting his classmates. When their mum visited them at the weekends, the boys were ecstatic. When she left, they threw tantrums which would last for days.

They became even more anxious after attending a relative’s funeral because they were terrified their mum might die too and they would never see her again.

Because of Family Works Angels like you, the brothers are now stronger and more resilient, and Mum has found great inspiration moving forward.

Thanks to your continued help and generosity, many children like Samuel and Nigel are receiving the care and assistance they need.
May thoughts of these children, now happy and thriving, keep you warm this winter!

Aunty was extremely concerned but didn’t know how to help her nephews.
So she approached our Social Worker in School (SWiS) Eddy who recognised the boys’ growing insecurity and need for help.

Eddy began the eight-week Seasons programme with Samuel and Nigel, and also met the boys each week. Seasons is designed for children going through grief and loss and it helped the boys deal with the disruption and unexpected changes in their lives.

Samuel and Nigel also met other children who were going through similar experiences. They made new friends, developed new skills to help them adapt to the changes in their lives, and learnt new ideas for playing together and having fun.

Aunty also put Eddy in touch with their mum who hadn’t realised how deeply her separation from her children had affected them. Eddy helped Mum to understand the boys’ feelings and behaviour by explaining how worried they had been about her.

Mum became even more determined to make positive changes that would make her a better parent to her sons. Months later, sober and drug-free, Samuel and Nigel’s mum was reunited with her boys.

The brothers are over the moon to be back living with their mum who is so grateful she understood in time what an important person she is to the sons she loves.

*Names and imagery have been changed to protect identity

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